Soldiers from 9 Regt The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) marched through Malmesbury on 29 June where they received their Afghanistan operational medals and were awarded the Freedom of the historic Wiltshire town.

The event, organised by the Town Council, saw troops dressed in their desert combats form up at the War Memorial. From there they were led by the band of the RLC to the Town Square. About 150 members of the Regiment were then presented with Op HERRICK medals by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire and the Mayor of Malmesbury.

The parade then marched to Malmesbury Abbey where a service of thanksgiving was held, followed by a Civic Ceremony at the Town Hall. Throughout family, friends and people from the town showed their appreciation and cheered, applauded and waved flags.

Amazing level of support

“To come home and receive such a massive level of support from the local community is quite amazing, and unique in my twenty plus years' service to date,” said Lieutenant Colonel Simon Jordan Commanding Officer 9 Regt RLC.

"To receive the freedom of Malmesbury is a seminal moment for the soldiers of 9 Regt and I'm proud and honoured to accept this honour on their behalf.

"The parade is a celebration of the hard work conducted by the soldiers, a fitting end to a hard tour and an opportunity for the whole community to get together.

"On behalf of the whole Regiment I would like to thank the people of Malmesbury and the surrounding area for this fantastic display of support.”

Theatre Logistic Group

Personnel from 9 Regiment completed their 6 month deployment to Afghanistan in May 2010. Those deployed were mainly from 94 Squadron Group with the backbone of personnel being Gurkha soldiers.

Once in Afghanistan they formed part of the Theatre Logistic Group, providing the British forces in Afghanistan with everything from bullets, body armour and medical supplies to fuel, rations, water and welfare facilities.

Most of those on parade were stationed in Kandahar and Camp Bastion in Helmand province, although there were also detachments working from Kabul and various Forward Operating Bases.

A mammoth undertaking

It was a particularly intensive tour due to the requirement to move the main logistic base whilst continuing to provide seamless support to the front line fighting troops engaged in busy operations.

The move took three months to complete and involved a 100 per cent stock-take being conducted at both ends of the journey - a mammoth undertaking.

More than 620 ISO containers, or 143,000 individual items, later, the task was successfully completed ahead of schedule. Thankfully, the Regiment returned from Afghanistan without any deaths or serious injuries.

Training for future deployment

The Regiment is now firmly focussing its attention on training personnel from 95 Squadron for possible future deployment to Afghanistan, to fulfil the same role.

Many of the troops who paraded will be heavily involved in passing on their knowledge and experience to their colleagues to ensure that any tour they undertake is equally successful.